JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The top budget writer in the Missouri House has left the Capitol in the middle of a budget debate to spend time with his ailing mother.
Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones said Tuesday that the mother of House Budget Committee Chairman Rick Stream has suffered a stroke. He said Stream was taken by a Highway Patrol officer from Jefferson City back to the St. Louis area to be with his mother.
Stream had been shepherding debate Tuesday on Missouri's proposed budget for the 2014 fiscal year. The House had gotten through budget bills on public debt and education before taking a break, when Stream learned of his mother's stroke.
Debate on the budget resumed later Tuesday with Budget Committee Vice Chairman Tom Flanigan taking over Stream's duties.